Cayla Hefner used to rescue thrown away broken items and sneak them into her room.
There, she’d disassemble and tinker. She was so fascinated with how things like DVD players worked that very often she could fix them, turning something that was temporarily garbage into something her family could use.
She always liked using her hands. She thought she might join the military or become a cop. But a school adviser told her about a new program at West Virginia University that was looking for candidates to be trained in trades such as electrical, heating and air conditioning, and carpentry.
Four years ago, WVU started a program aimed at making its ranks of trades workers more diverse and creating a dependable way to recruit a stream of talent in the face of mass retirement. The University estimates that 30 percent of its overall workforce will be eligible to retire by 2012.
“I think it was fairly visionary,” said Randy Hudak, interim associate vice president for Facilities Management. “I think it was thought of before, but not tried.”
The University established the pilot apprenticeship program in 2007. Hefner, 21, of Fairmont, is one of six apprentices graduating Wednesday (July 20) 6 p.m. at the Erickson Alumni Center as the first class that will bridge the gap between a cast of retiring employees and the next generation of trades workers at WVU. The first class also includes: Donald Demastes and Ben Spransy who trained in heating, ventilation and air conditioning; David Smith in general trades; Garry Smith, a plumber; and Andrew Morris, an electrician.
So far, the program is bringing a diverse group of workers—ranging in age from workers out of high school to one in his 60s—who learn the workings of the University and the institutional knowledge of the current workforce. Hefner will be the only woman in trades among approximately 150 trades workers at WVU above the apprenticeship level.
Hudak said that the program has already succeeded in its initial goals of recruiting diverse talent. But the program’s greatest achievements may not be realized in full until the new workers have become established and Hudak and other managers who built the program have retired.
“The apprenticeship program has definitely brought in a more diverse workforce, particularly women,” Hudak said. “We’ve had fairly good success hiring women. Going out into the workforce looking for someone that’s been fully trained has been difficult.”
The program has also benefited several campus service workers who’ve been able to move up within the trades. The way the program is built, as the apprentice meets each year’s requirements, he or she moves up a pay grade.
“The short term success has been bringing talent in,” Hudak said. “The people in the program have mastered the skills very well, so we’re very pleased with the skill level that’s developing out of the program.”
He knows of no other apprenticeship program in higher education in West Virginia, though other peer institutions in the country have developed similar programs. WVU formed its own training for apprentices in the face of a workforce with varying degrees of skill who typically need months to adapt to WVU’s system.
Gary Boyd, assistant director of Maintenance, has already seen the difference in those trained in the program.
“In my experience and seeing the apprentices to where they’re at today especially those who are graduating versus the quality of skill that we would hire if we were hiring from outside, I believe that our technicians are higher skilled than what we could recruit and attract,” he said.
Paul Zepp, assistant director of human resources for Facilities Management, said that as fewer people go into skilled trades, there’s been a shortfall in the industry.
The six workers who are graduating from the program and the seven others who are still training are holding on to knowledge passed on from their mentors in the trades who are leaving a legacy through the apprentices.
“We teach them the old ways from the Yodas of the world, and we also teach them the new technologies,” Zepp said.
The program encompasses nearly 7,000 hours of training, mostly on-the-job, and includes 145 hours of classroom and technical training. Apprentices train at the Monongalia County Technical Education Center, with companies that manufacture equipment used at WVU and in customized sessions developed through WVU’s Division of Human Resources.
The trades taught are plumbing, carpentry, electrical, mechanical maintenance, general trades, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Hires are made as needed where openings are anticipated each summer. Workers who are already trained would still be hired to fill some positions, but for the most part, the University hopes to rely on the staff trained in-house.
Current trades workers are also offered training similar to that offered to the apprentices if they would like to explore certain skills further.
When the apprentices complete the U.S. Department of Labor-approved program they have a job and are certified in their trade.
Hefner, who trained in the general trades area, had always looked up to WVU as her state’s flagship University.
“Coming here, I was nervous and scared,” she said. “I was worried. Was I going to be able to pull my own weight? What were the guys going to think with me being a woman in the trades?”
Hefner, being the first woman to graduate the program, said she’s able to set the tone for those coming after her.
“I get to set the standard for the beginning that ‘She’s a hard worker, she knows what she’s talking about, she can do it,’” she said.
“Coming in as a woman, they saw me as a woman,” she said.
When her coworkers offered to carry or lift, she’d tell them that she could handle it.
“They admired that, and they thought that was pretty cool,” she said.
Hefner said her first big calls that she handled on her own were challenging.
“When I first started going on my own, I’d get a lot of calls that I wasn’t sure what to do, and of course a lot of stuff we get into especially the electric, you have to be very careful because you could severely injure yourself or damage the building,” she said.
But she always had someone to call who would help her figure it out. And not just at work. When she tried to fix things at home and didn’t have the right tools or couldn’t handle it on her own, her coworkers would come in their time off and help her.
“You become very good friends with most of these people, and they’d do anything for you regardless if you’re at work or at home,” she said.
Boyd said that the mentorship offered in the program is crucial.
“Without the mentors you’re not going to be successful,” he said. “They are the key. Without those hours of interaction with their mentors on a daily basis, the program doesn’t work.”
The real hope behind the program, one that will take years to pay off, is that the employees will make WVU their career.
“I think the program says that the University cares about its people, cares about people’s careers and it cares about the customer service we deliver to students, faculty and staff,” Zepp said. “What it really says is WVU’s a great place to work.”
-WVU-
By Diana Mazzella
University Relations/News
07/20/11
CONTACT: Randy Hudak, Interim Associate Vice President, Facilities Management
304-293-3944, randy.hudak@mail.wvu.edu
Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.